Today, we are announcing the results of Operation Avalanche --
a major initiative that combines the investigative resources of the
Department of Justice, the Dallas Police Department and U.S. Postal
Inspection Service. More than merely another successfully
prosecuted case, Operation Avalanche stands as a model of federal,
state and local cooperation in the investigation, prosecution and
most importantly prevention of the sexual exploitation of children.

Regrettably, the work of the Department of Justice to provide
a safe America for children now extends well beyond the physical
world into the electronic universe of cyberspace. Few would
disagree that the world wide web offers unparalleled educational
and recreational opportunities for our young people. But there
are back alleys and dark corners of the internet where children can
be exposed to inappropriate material or become susceptible to
offenders who view them as sexual objects.

These offenders leverage the technology and anonymity of the
internet to trade and produce child pornography, explore their
sexual interest in children, and to identify youth susceptible to
manipulation and exploitation. Large numbers of young people are
encountering sexual solicitations they did not want, sexual
material they did not seek, and in the most serious cases, are
targeted by offenders seeking children for sex. Today's internet
has also become the new marketplace for child pornography. In
their efforts to stop the electronic proliferation of these obscene
materials, our law enforcement officers are often "outgunned and
out-teched" by the profit-driven purveyors of child pornography.

To help make the internet a safe place for children to play
and learn, the Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention has been working to build a national network
of state and local law enforcement agencies to respond to child
pornography and cyber-enticement offenses. The cornerstone of our
efforts is the National Center's CyberTipline which encourages
citizens to report suspicious online activity to law enforcement.
Under the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, we
are providing training, equipment, and funding to nearly 60 city,
county and state law enforcement agencies. These agencies
coordinate the efforts of more than 140 law enforcement agencies in
35 States. In just over two years, they have arrested more than
500 offenders, seized more than 900 computers, and reached
thousands of children, teenagers, and parents with information
about safe internet practices.

This successful coordination of all levels of law enforcement
builds on the ongoing work of the Department of Justice, in
addition to other federal agencies, in battling child pornography.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Innocent Images National
Initiative is a nation-wide effort to investigate those who
traffick in child pornography and those who travel to commit sexual
offenses against children. The United States Customs Service
battles international child pornography, much of which originates
in the United States. In addition, the legal experts in the
Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section provide
innovative, technology-based training for investigators on the
federal, state and local levels.

Today, we are announcing the results of Operation Avalanche --
a first of its kind initiative involving unprecedented cooperation
between local, state and federal law enforcement. Operation
Avalanche combined the investigative resources of the Internet
Crimes Against Children Task Force Program and U.S. Postal
Inspection Service. Co-managed by the Dallas Police Department and
the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and coordinated through the ICAC
Task Force Program, this operation offers a blueprint of how
federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies can work
together to protect children in cyberspace. In a few minutes,
Chief Inspector Ken Weaver will provide you with some specific
details of this initiative but before he does, I would like to
recognize the co-managers of this investigation, Lieutenant Bill
Walsh of the Dallas Police Department, and Postal Inspector Ray
Smith and thank them for their hard work and leadership. In
addition, investigators worked closely with attorneys from the
Department of Justice's Criminal Division Child Exploitation and
Obscenity Section, who provided critical legal guidance at the
undercover design stage and throughout the operation. We thank
them, as well, for their dedication and expertise.

Understandably, today's announcement may alarm some parents.
But I want to caution those with children who use the internet not
to immediately yank the cord from the family computer. The
Department of Justice is not saying that you should deprive your
children of the educational and recreational opportunities of the
internet. In this, as in so many other areas, exercising caution
is the best course. Parents may want to talk with their children
about possible dangers online, set out rules for their online
activities, and encourage them to tell you when they become alarmed
or disturbed by something they see while online.

Today's announcement emphasizes the resolve of the Department
of Justice to make sure that cyberspace does not become a free-fire
zone to target children. It serves notice that there are no free-rides on the information highway for traffickers of child
pornography. To those in the sex industry who illegally prey on
America's innocence, the Department of Justice will use every
resource available to identify, investigate and prosecute you to
the fullest extent of the law.With the help and cooperation of
parents, we will not only identify and prosecute those who seek to
victimize children in cyberspace, but we will prevent future
children from becoming victims as well.

Thank you. And now it is my pleasure to introduce Chief
Postal Inspector Kenneth Weaver to provide the details on Operation
Avalanche. Chief Inspector Weaver ...